In Brazil, school dropout exceeded the limits of public schools and can no longer be understood as an unfolding of social factors. One of the explanatory hypotheses for this fact relates boredom, lack of concentration and learning difficulties in the classroom to the constant experiences of children and teenagers in virtual environments. An alternative solution consists of using new technologies at school. However, it is likely that methodological changes are counterproductive if the disciplinary bases of the school system are maintained, as the negative effects of coercion are incompatible with the freedom experienced virtually. This study aims to present relationships between non-coercion and staying in school. For this purpose, it presents the theoretical assumption that underlies an action research implemented at the University of Amazônia, in Belém: spontaneous and pleasurable engagement in activities and recognition of personal and social value are positive effects of non-coercive interactions. Therefore, we investigate whether the formation of small groups with non-coercive characteristics in schools favors among students the development of a pleasurable engagement in academic activities. University students present literary texts to groups of about fifteen students, opening space on a weekly basis for shared reading, reflections and dialogue with the absence of performance evaluations. We have obtained positive results in areas such as assertiveness, empathy, resilience, creativity, autonomy and pleasure in reading, which unfolds in pleasure in studying. We expect that historically naturalized coercion in schools is brought to the center of attention, so that learning can be dissociated from fear and avoidance.

This study presents a proposal for a group intervention with mothers of children from six to twelve years old in a situation of social vulnerability. We aimed to encourage the participants to identify the parenting style they adopt and alternatives for action, test changes in behavior between group meetings and evaluate the results of their efforts. The qualitative field research described corresponds to one of the groups created in 2018 in the context of an action research implemented at the University of Amazônia (UNAMA), Belém, located in Northern Brazil. We selected five participants who were present in at least 60% of the ten weekly meetings held in a group of mothers formed at the UNAMA psychology school clinic. Verbal exchanges in meetings and individual interviews supported the realization of content analysis, based on the formation of analysis categories corresponding to three parenting styles: authoritative or democratic, authoritarian and permissive. We noticed a growing movement of the participants towards the adoption of assertive and empathetic attitudes, combining display of affection with the establishment of consistent rules and limits. We conclude that changes towards the adoption of an authoritative parenting style generated positive impacts on family relationships based on the understanding of the role of model identified by the participants in themselves. Social skills made a difference in the family and led to developments in the behavior of children at school, indicating that it is a way to overcome the situation of social vulnerability in which they find themselves.

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